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Re: Hopguard receives sectionon 18 emergency approval in Maine

Huh. Just getting started in beekeeping, but have been into homebrewing for a decade or two and am surprised to see a product made from hop beta acid is regulated. Personally, I seek out hops with relatively high beta acid content for brewing certain styles, as the bitterness is somewhat more pleasant on the palate when used in highly-hopped styles like IPA. I've never heard of a hop being pulled from the brewing market due to overly high beta acid content, so curious why a product derived from it would be subject to regulation in beekeeping. Anyone have a quick&dirty explanation?

Re: Hopguard receives sectionon 18 emergency approval in Maine

I suppose I could get my head around that, but it's naturally found in high concentrations in a primary ingredient in beer (IIRC higher than the alpha acid content in many modern hop varieties) yet is not regulated there. Hence my confusion.

Re: Hopguard receives sectionon 18 emergency approval in Maine

Just remember that putting it in and counting on it to work for a month is crazy. That is where it fails big time. A strong hive will dismantle and take it out in about 3-5 days. You must treat for 3 consecutive weeks in a row to make a real dent into the mite cycle and see results. See my article:http://www.klamathbeekeepers.org/Bee...oney_bees.html

Re: Hopguard receives sectionon 18 emergency approval in Maine

You are right it is not cost effective, when you have to treat 3 times in a row. We have beekeeper's that started to buy PIKE from Hopsteiner, but the company no longer sells it directly to beekeepers because they worry about copyright infringements with Hopguard. Now all we can do is peddle breweries and hope to buy it there.